Applecross business consultant Dean McAskil plays Sergeant Ray Armstrong with 18-year-old Tessa Bevilacqua making her stage debut as murder suspect nine-year-old Lizzie.
Camera IconApplecross business consultant Dean McAskil plays Sergeant Ray Armstrong with 18-year-old Tessa Bevilacqua making her stage debut as murder suspect nine-year-old Lizzie. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Lullaby of death

Tim MayneMelville Gazette

Wolf Lullaby explores the themes of intrinsic evil, parental guilt and responsibility and whether some people are just born evil.

Written by Australian playwright Hilary Bell and directed by Alida Chaney, the play is set in a remote Tasmanian town where a small child is murdered, with the suspicion falling on another child.

Local actor Dean McAskil plays Ray, a character he described as a father and family man.

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"He's also an old-fashioned, no-nonsense country town policeman who knows everybody and takes a pastoral approach to young troublemakers," he said.

"Not much shocks him but his investigation of what happened on Christmas Eve tips his world askew " he will not be the same again.

"My challenges are partly the same ones that must be faced by law enforcement officials when dealing with these matters.

McAskil has been involved in theatre since his teens and has appeared in four feature films, numerous television series and commercials and more than 60 short films.

"Wolf Lullaby appealed to me because of the uncomfortable subject matter and difficult role," McAskil said.

"I actually drafted at least one email withdrawing from the audition because of the subject matter before deciding that is exactly why I should do it."

Wolf Lullaby is Doubleview resident Tessa Bevilacqua's debut stage performance.

The 18-year-old plays nine-year-old Lizzie, who is the prime suspect in the child's murder, causing her parents to question their own beliefs.

Director Alida Chaney said that while Wolf Lullaby featured the disturbing subject of children as murderers, it asked not only why it occurred but how people deal with it.